Simon Shaheen (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: سيمون شاهين, he, סימון שאהין; born
Tarshiha
Ma'alot-Tarshiha ( he, מַעֲלוֹת-תַּרְשִׁיחָא; ar, معالوت ترشيحا, ''Maʻālūt Taršīḥā'') is a city in the North District in Israel, some east of Nahariya, about above sea level. The city was established in ...
,
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mounta ...
, Palestine, 1955) is a Palestinian-American
oud
, image=File:oud2.jpg
, image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921
, background=
, classification=
* String instruments
*Necked bowl lutes
, hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum
, ...
and
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
player and
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
who holds Israeli citizenship.
At the age of 2, Shaheen moved with his family to
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, but spent most of the weekends in
Tarshiha
Ma'alot-Tarshiha ( he, מַעֲלוֹת-תַּרְשִׁיחָא; ar, معالوت ترشيحا, ''Maʻālūt Taršīḥā'') is a city in the North District in Israel, some east of Nahariya, about above sea level. The city was established in ...
, an Arab village in
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
. The Shaheen family is known for its musicality with music instructor and father Hikmat, oud-playing and instrument-making brother Najib, violinist and oud playing William, and singing sisters Laura and Rosette.
Music career
He began playing the oud at 5, and the violin shortly thereafter. He attended
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
, earning degrees in Arabic literature and music performance. He later pursued further studies at
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
. In 1980 he emigrated to the United States to study music at the
Manhattan School of Music
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...
and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen.
He founded the Near Eastern Music Ensemble and organizes arts festivals and retreats.
Shaheen also heads the Arabic Music Retreat, held annually at Mt. Holyoke College's campus in Massachusetts which brings together a large faculty instructing Arabic music for a week and concludes with a concert.
Shaheen, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, lives in New York City, where he leads an Arabic ensemble called Qantara which he formed.
In 1994 he received a
National Heritage Fellowship
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's h ...
from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
.
In addition to his work in traditional and classical Arabic music, Shaheen has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects, including performing with producer
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
n singer
Soraya
Soraya ( fa, ثریا) is a feminine Persian name. It is derived from the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster, ''Thurayya'' ( ar, ثريّة). The name is also popular in Europe due to its association with Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, th ...
,
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...
,
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena ( slide guitar).
Personal life
Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his wife and ...
, and with
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
klezmer
Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...
musicians
The Klezmatics
The Klezmatics are an American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins. They have ...
.
Select discography
*1990 – ''Music of Waheeb'', Mango/Island/
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
*1990 – ''The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab'', Axiom/Island/PolyGram
*1992 – ''Turath (Heritage)'', CMP
*1993 – ''Taqasim: Art of Improvisation in Arabic Music''
*1996 – ''Saltanah'' (with
V. M. Bhatt
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt (born 27 July 1950), is an Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena ( slide guitar).
Personal life
Bhatt lives in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, with his wife and ...
),
Water Lily Acoustics
Water Lily Acoustics is an American record label in Santa Barbara, California founded in 1985 by Kavichandran Alexander, a Tamil from Sri Lanka. Alexander is a record producer and audio engineer. He named the label after his mother, Lily. The la ...
*2001 – ''Blue Flame'', Ark 21/Universal
References
External links
Simon Shaheen official site*
AllMusic entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaheen, Simon
1955 births
Living people
American male composers
21st-century American composers
American male violinists
American oud players
Manhattan School of Music alumni
National Heritage Fellowship winners
Oud players
Tel Aviv University alumni
People from Ma'alot-Tarshiha
American people of Palestinian descent
Israeli emigrants to the United States
21st-century American violinists
21st-century American male musicians